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Ellen Kaarma (2 January 1928 – 4 July 1973) was an stage and film actress.
In 1946 Kaarma began studying drama at the now defunct Estonian State Theatre Institute in Tallinn, graduating in 1949. Among her graduating classmates were actors Jüri Järvet, Heikki Haravee, Ellen Alaküla and future husband Gunnar Kilgas. Eesti Juhi Abi Ühing Ellen Alaküla (auliige aastani 2011) 3 March 2001. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
In 1951, Kaarma began a tumultuous engagement at Tartu's Vanemuine theatre, where she performed in roles in works by such varied authors and playwrights as Honoré de Balzac, Leo Tolstoy, Bertolt Brecht and Anton Chekhov, among others, throughout her career with the theatre. At the time, the Vanemuine was under the direction of actor and stage pedagogue Kaarel Ird. Teatritasku Kaarel Ird: "Minu parim lavastus on Vanemuine" 2 October 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2017. Although praised for her ability as an actress, Kaarma's relationship with Ird was turbulent and the two were frequently at odds with one another and mired in personal and professional disputes. Tartu Postimees Näitleja pojatütar tõi välja tõe vanaema surma kohta 27 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2017. At one point, during the late 1950s, Kaarma was offered an engagement at the Estonian Drama Theatre in Tallinn by theatre director Ilmar Tammur. However, Ird refused to grant Kaarma permission to leave the Vanemuine. Kaarma's final appearance onstage at the Vanemuine was a role in the production of the Hugo Raudsepp comedic play Vedelvorst in 1967. Maaleht Nii alandav-kurb on kauni naise saatus ... 11 November 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
In 1957, Kaarma was cast as Salme in the Aleksandr Mandrõkin directed black-and-white feature film drama Pöördel for Tallinna Kinostuudio. The film centered around a communist party official, portrayed by Kaarma's former husband Gunnar Kilgas, who is sent to revive the faltering productivity of a collective farm. Eesti Filmi Andmebaas Retrieved 2 March 2017. This was Kaarma's biggest film role. In 1971, she had a small role in the Kalju Komissarov directed drama film Metskapten, starring former Estonian State Theatre Institute classmate Jüri Järvet. Lounaleht Lauljatar Hedvig Hanson avaldas jutustamata loo oma näitlejast vanaemast Ellen Kaarmast Retrieved 2 March 2017.
Following her departure from the Vanemuine theatre, Kaarma's alcoholism spiraled further out of control. In mid-June 1973, she was forcibly hospitalized. Tartu Postimees Näitleja pojatütar tõi välja tõe vanaema surma kohta 27 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2017. On 3 July 1973, she escaped from the hospital through a first-floor window wearing only a hospital gown and fled to the apartment she had shared with her then 18-year-old son Tõnu in Tartu. The following evening, Kaarma began drinking at a friend's apartment on Vallikraavi Street when she succumbed to what was officially recorded as a stroke at age 45. In 2011, while Kaarma's granddaughter Hedvig Hanson was doing research on Kaarma, a neighbor revealed that the night of her death, Kaarma had received a severe blow to the head; possibly delivered by one of the people in the apartment that she had been drinking with. Tartu Postimees Näitleja pojatütar tõi välja tõe vanaema surma kohta 27 September 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2017. Lounaleht Lauljatar Hedvig Hanson avaldas jutustamata loo oma näitlejast vanaemast Ellen Kaarmast Retrieved 2 March 2017.
Kaarma was buried at Viljandi Forest Cemetery, next to her father.
In 2011, Hedvig Hanson found several diaries belonging to Kaarma in her father's basement. These eventually provided the foundation of a biography Hanson wrote in 2012 titled Jutustamata lugu: Vanemuise näitleja Ellen Kaarma (1928–1973) (English: The Untold Story: Vanemuine Actress Ellen Kaarma (1928–1973)), published by Tänapäev. Rahva Raamat Jutustamata lugu: Vanemuise näitleja Ellen Kaarma (1928–1973) Retrieved 2 March 2017.
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